01/02/2013

How many Hops is Too Many Hops? What to look for if latency is killing your global data applications...

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..." nothing annoys your customers and employees more than waiting around after they hit the "enter key" on their computer or smartphone for your firm's computer applications to do what you said they would do (increase employee productivity, enhance customer service, reduce sales cycles, etc.)

Maybe your application is working right but your data network service provider is still trying to figure out how to best connect the application users and the application data. According to NTT America, for some ISPs (Internet service providers), 20 or more hops from one data network to another around the globe are required to make the right connects to make your application work.

Since every extra hop your data packets have to endure in their travel increases latency (one Mississippi, two Mississippi), to figure out how to increase network performance one has to understand how autonomous system numbers (ASNs) work and how jumping from one to another increases latency.

Just as a non-stop flight will get you from Los Angeles to New York faster than a flight that make multiple stops where you have to switch planes, so too does using a global single ASN network reduce the redundancy experienced by your data application users.

If you're deploying a data application globally across such continents as North America, Europe, Asia and Australia you'll want to consider a global data network service provider like NTT Communications.

NTT Communications fully controls the collection of routers that make up our Global Single ASN. We have independent links to the other leading networks around the World. We use our network to get you connected and to keep your data streaming.

Why is One Better?

According to NTT, of the 20,000 or so autonomous system numbers in use, NTT has ONE, where other ISPs have many. That means that North America, Europe, Asia and Australia all connect across a single backbone. NTT's customers experience stellar performance no matter where they are.

For some ISPs, data has to travel across multiple ASNs to arrive at its destination. Traveling across multiple ASNs can mean up to 20 hops. NTT claims they can do it in fewer than five. With strategically located exchange points around the world, you can get to ANY access point on NTT's global network in fewer than five hops. That's around the world (and back), smoothly, and with fewer delays.

NTT specializes in access and connectivity. For VoIP, streaming media, database application and backup, NTT claims you'll experience a significant reduction in latency. Their single global ASN is available to all NTT customers, globally. Wherever you are, your data travels seamlessly across our network and around the world.